4 ms·
Palantir. Valar Ventures. Mithril Capital. Lembas LLC. It’s remarkable to me how someone like Thiel could be such a fan of Lord of the Rings, with its centr
by jamesgill 1y ago
Palantir.
Valar Ventures.
Mithril Capital.
Lembas LLC.
It’s remarkable to me how someone like Thiel could be such a fan of Lord of the Rings, with its central themes of the corrupting influence of unchecked power and good triumphing over evil and evil’s will to control and dominate—then decide to become Gollum.
- dylan604 1y agoIn all of these types of stories, "evil" rules for long enough that makes it appealing for those with the same views. Sometimes, it's generations before "good" overcomes. Plus, each one of the "evil" leaders feel like they are special and different. It's easy to understand why. You just need to be able to see it yourself.
- FirmwareBurner 1y agoBecause it's only evil when your opposition/competition is doing it. You're always the hero in your own story and for you the actions are justified because you're doing it "for good". The road to hell is paved with good intentions. Hitler was also a fan of works of art with themes of peace and harmony. The world, at the highest levels of competition and leadership, doesn't run on morals, it runs on unscrupulous force, conquest and domination. See: the human history for the past infinity years. Those who tried to maintain peace on morals instead of force, got eliminated form the gene pool. People should remember this more often.
- ben_w 1y ago> See: the human history for the past infinity years. Those who ran on morals instead of force, got eliminated form the gene pool. People should remember this more often. Fortunately not so; some time around 50-100kya, humans rapidly became a whole lot nicer to each other.
- FirmwareBurner 1y agoKya? No idea what you mean.
- jmye 1y agoContextually clear that this is a stand in for “thousand years ago.”
- FirmwareBurner 1y agoAh ok thanks, then that's false.
- eyesofgod 1y ago[dead]
- dismalaf 1y agoThiel and Karp have both said in various places that western civilization is worth saving and that it's better that we develop this power than enemies of the West, and I'm not going to lie, I'm inclined to agree with them. Do you really think Putin, Xi and Khamenei are better stewards of the world than the West? The West's introspective nature is good and all, but sometimes we unwittingly forget that there is actual evil in the world, and it's much worse than saying mean things on Twitter, or putting facts above feelings. Students in Iran literally die protesting the regime, meanwhile students here who live a life of luxury and don't know what actual oppression is "protest"/simp for the Iranians (or one of their various proxies)...
- maest 1y ago> Do you really think Putin, Xi and Khomeini are better stewards of the world than the West? I'm sure they're saying the same things about the West. https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/002/355/607/670 https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/002/355/607/670
- dismalaf 1y agoOf course they say the same things about the West. Especially North Korea, which is the epitome of human achievement. Saying it doesn't make it true though.
- maest 1y ago>North Korea Maybe try addressing a more serious version of my argument rather than the weakest thing you can strawman.
- timacles 1y ago[flagged]
- dismalaf 1y ago[flagged]
- brookst 1y agoMr. Thiel identifies as Sauron, thank you very much.
- Workaccount2 1y agoThere are no evil people, media (books, TV, movies) have plainly evil people so the story is easily digestible and appealing to the masses. But it is completely incorrect framing of how the world actually is. In reality "evil" people almost always want to genuinely make the world a better place, and they are fighting "ignorant" people who are dragging society down by not conforming to their golden vision. And then "evil" becomes largely a function of who you ask. It's the opposition that labels them evil, not society on the whole. There are very few leaders ever who are straight up storybook style evil. Almost all of them were/are deranged people who convinced enough people of their ostensibly good vision to begin executing it. No one came to power because they wanted to turn society into burning rumble while they ate babies during daily random execution time. It's all nuance and complication.
- galleywest200 1y ago> There are no evil people [....] In reality "evil" people almost always want to genuinely make the world a better place I would have to disagree here...lots of historical examples of criminal gangs, privateers, etc seeking to simply do harm.
- jerglingu 1y agoWho? I can only think of Nero who sought only to "simply do harm." This is such a reductive way to cast people
- tim333 1y agoThiel on the whole is just providing technology that can be used for good or evil. The decision to deport pro palestinian protesters is down to Trump who was chosen by the American voters.